Carlsen Wins Again In Biel

Being the clear favourite can be a burden to some, but no-one seems to have told Magnus Carlsen, who crushed Alexei Shirov in the second round at Biel.

Never one to shy away from a fight, Shirov went looking for trouble and found it big time. Carlsen's novelty with 15. Nh6 was strong and Shirov had no answer.

If Shirov brings fire to the board, Carlsen brings a flame-thrower!

The welcome return of Alexander Morozevich (pictured) to chess was rewarded with a victory against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave when the Frenchman went awry with 28. Ng5?

In the last game, Fabiano Caruana pushed hard against Yannick Pelletier, but was unable to find a win in a rook endgame.

The standings after two rounds (using the 3-1-0 'Bilbao' scoring method):

Carlsen, Magnus

NOR

2821

6

Morozevich, Alexander

RUS

2694

4

Caruana, Fabiano

ITA

2711

2

Shirov, Alexei

ESP

2714

1

Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime

FRA

2722

1

Pelletier, Yannick

SUI

2590

1

Games get underway each day at 14:00 local time (12:00 UTC, 08:00 Eastern), except the final round on 29 July which starts three hours earlier. There are rest days on 21 July and 24 July. Live games can be followed from this link at the official website.